Arizona campaign-finance reports give hint at races

Babeu donations dip, but he's still in lead

Donations to Paul Babeu's congressional campaign slowed markedly after a controversy erupted in mid-February over allegations that he threatened an ex-boyfriend with deportation, records filed Sunday show.

Still, Babeu raised more money than his two Republican competitors combined in the District 4 race in northwestern Arizona, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Between January and March, the Pinal County sheriff raised $144,000 from individual donors, well short of the $256,000 he raised in the final quarter of 2011. U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar raised $115,000 for the quarter, and state Sen. Ron Gould raised less than $19,000 from donors. Gould made a $90,000 loan to his campaign from personal funds.

Gould took in less for the three months than Babeu did in the six weeks after the allegations were made public, according to an Arizona Republic analysis of campaign-finance reports.

In another high-profile race, records show U.S. Rep. Ben Quayle, with $390,000, has opened a significant cash advantage over fellow freshman U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, with $250,000. The two Arizona Republicans are running in the primary for the District 6 seat, covering the northeast Valley.

Also, in the state's new 9th District, running from Chandler through north-central Phoenix, the three-candidate Democratic field collectively outraised the five Republicans. Among the Democrats, former Arizona Democratic Party Chairman Andrei Cherny used heavy support from California donors, easily outraising his primary opponents, former state Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Phoenix and state Sen. David Schapira of Tempe.

Other highlights from the campaign reports:

Former U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon added to his fundraising lead over former state House Speaker Kirk Adams for the District 5 seat in the southeast Valley.

Former U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick continued to pile up a commanding financial advantage over all other candidates in her quest to regain the 1st District, encompassing northeastern Arizona.

U.S. Rep. Raśl Grijalva was comfortably ahead of at least three of those running against him in District 3, while reports for six others were unavailable late Sunday.

In Arizona's U.S. Senate race, U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake maintained his comfortable lead, raising $936,000 in net donations, according to summary pages of reports provided by the candidates to The Republic. His Republican opponent, Mesa businessman Wil Cardon, raised $197,000 and also loaned his campaign $3 million in the quarter, bringing his self-funding total to date to $4.2 million. Former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, the presumptive Democratic nominee, collected $789,000.

Campaign-finance reports in the first quarter are a valuable measure of viability, said Candice Nelson, an associate government professor at American University in Washington, D.C.

"It's important because we're now in the election year," she said. "Sometimes in the year before an election, it's hard to get donors engaged."

Veteran Arizona political scientist Bruce Merrill agrees.

"If you take out family money or personal money, then you're looking at how people that do this for a living, and by that, I mean special interests and institutional givers, how they size up who's most likely to win," he said. "The bottom line is it takes money to buy media (ads) to have a chance to win. It clearly gives them a chance to buy exposure."

Babeu's finance report was perhaps the most eagerly anticipated of the quarter in Arizona. Public disclosure of his acrimonious breakup with Jose Orozco, a Mexican national who had handled website duties for Babeu, added new intrigue to the Republican primary race for the new 4th District.

Racy pictures posted online and e-mailed by Babeu and allegations of abuse of power competed with his national profile as an illegal-immigration-enforcement hard-liner. Orozco accused Babeu and his attorney and campaign manager Chris DeRose of threatening to deport him if he didn't keep quiet about the relationship. Babeu and DeRose deny making any threats.

Pundits predicted Babeu's campaign for Congress was doomed in a district regarded as one of the state's most conservative. Meanwhile Babeu's sheriff's department has become engulfed in investigations of impropriety.

From January until the Feb. 17 allegations, Babeu raised nearly $68,000 from donors who gave $200 or more. (Campaigns must itemize such donors, including listing the dates the money was received.) From Feb. 18 until March 31, Babeu received about $27,000 from these larger donors.

By comparison, Babeu quickly raised $263,000 between October, when he entered the race, and December, records show. That was twice as much raised as Gosar, who was deciding which district he would pursue this year.

DeRose, the campaign manager, called Babeu's fundraising "nothing short of fantastic" in the face of the crisis. "Yet again we've outraised an incumbent member of Congress."

DeRose said he expects money to flow in stronger in the next quarter, when the Arizona Attorney General's Office investigation of the allegations against Babeu and his ex-boyfriend might be released.

"We expect the sheriff to be completely exonerated," DeRose said.

Gosar, however, argued Babeu's donations depended on out-of-state donors who may not have heard much about the controversy or "do not share the same family values of the Arizona district he is trying to represent."

One thing the latest report doesn't confirm is how any of the candidates stand with residents in the new 4th District, because most of the candidates' donations come from outside the district. Voters in the district traditionally have not given generously to candidates.

Some candidates relied primarily on loans from themselves to fuel their campaigns. Gould, for example, gave his campaign $90,000 on March 29. Travis Grantham, a Republican running in the 9th District, has loaned his campaign $190,000. Democratic state Sen. Paula Aboud loaned herself $50,000 before abandoning her race for the District 8 seat vacated by former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.